Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with experimental

Irma Vep: final scene

whiskeyspider — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 18:05:16 -0800

What film techniques were used in the final scene of Irma Vep? I've always been in love with the final scene of Irma Vep, more so as a stand-alone piece of video art outside of the context of the film. Can anyone shed any light on how it was made? It looks as though some of the shapes were "scratched" onto the film itself -- is this how it was done? And what about the black geometric shapes? The effects don't look digital to me, but I don't know much about this stuff.

And more importantly, do you know who made it? And where can I see more video like this? Thanks.

Tell me about careers involving psychological reserach please!

tweedle — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:52:30 -0800

If I'm interested in research psychology, what can I go into for a career? I posted a previous question about a week ago about going into marketing research. Feel free to talk about that if you have any insights, but I want to know what my other options are this time.

Basically, I have no experience, but I think I would enjoy psychological research. I enjoy seeing the results of studies and I think I would also enjoy conducting them. This is the most interesting aspect of psychology to me and I right now I am probably majoring in psychology and minoring in marketing and statistics.

I don't think I would enjoy teaching or being a professor, so I don't really see how I can make this into a career.

I think I am a very analytical person and I like seeing statistical data, at least of things I'm interested in (like psychology).

So, what can I do as a career? I'm a sophomore in college right now in the US. Are you interested in the same things? If so, what do you find enjoyable about your career? Any insight would be helpful.

Strange Voices

phrontist — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 23:02:16 -0800

Recommend some music like Bon Iver's Woods, Imogen Heap's Hide and Seek, Beardyman, and some of Jamie Lidell - which feature nothing (or very little) but the human voice modified by electronics. Augmented acapellas, if you will.

Strange uses of Moving Pictures

phrontist — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 11:49:09 -0800

I'm looking for film recommendations. Films (of any length) that use approach their subject matter in abstract or otherwise unusual ways. Some of my favorites in that vein are Koyaanisqatsi and Baraka, Outside In, Powers of 10, Gantz Graf, Der Lauf Der Dinge, C'etait un Rendezvous, Fast, Cheap, and out of Control, and The Fourth Dimension. Things like this that, in their own weird way, impart some understanding. Bonus points for no dialog.

Avantgarde Operatics in London

0bvious — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 02:11:48 -0800

Avantgarde London: I want to take my girlfriend out to a biggish music/sound performance/event. I want it to be avantgarde, unexpected and unique - the kind of night that would send most music lovers screaming into the distance. I am thinking maybe opera, but I know NOTHING about it. And, as I said, I want avantgarde opera in London. Where do I start? My girlfriend is an experimental performance poet. She likes it weird. It's her birthday (soon). Can you help?

Martini inspired (and flavored) cookies?!

itesser — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 13:48:34 -0800

Experimental baking filter: I got this crazy idea to make martini-flavored cookies for a friend's birthday but I'm not sure how to go about it. After pondering over a couple different methods, I'm wondering if it's a doomed idea, as so much of the martini essence is in the alcohol which would cook off during baking. Yeah, I know, very high concept. The goal is to have something that looks like a cookie, but when you take a bite it gives an unmistakable but pleasant impression of martini, with a little bit of sweetness.

My original plan was to modify a sugar cookie recipe, and replace most of the sugar with a reduced gin/vermouth mixture. (I'm comfortable enough with baking to adjust recipes as I go to get the dough consistency I want)

Before I could give that concept a try, I got cold feet and wondered if I'd be better off using a base cookie with no martini in it, then adding the essence/flavor near the end of the baking process. Haven't tried this either.

Anyone more experienced than I with baking, cooking with alcohol, or martinis have any clues for how to go about this?

Alternately, best forum to take this to, or (in case of concept abandonment) an unusual twist I can add to peanut butter cookies?

frankenstein is my hero

randomstriker — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 13:50:34 -0800

I have damaged knee cartilage. I live in Vancouver, Canada and I want to participate in experimental stem-cell therapy. How can I? My understanding, based on current info, is that SCT offers the most promise of recovery or alleviation of symptoms without the typical progression to osteoathritis. So I want to jump in with both...er...feet.

How can I get access to experimental treatment? Who offers it? Whos' the best? I'm willing to travel to the US or overseas.

Experimental Composers

0bvious — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 05:11:25 -0800

MusicFilter: Looking for alternative/experimental composers in a similar vein to Moondog, Terry Riley, Erik Satie and La Monte Young. I wish to fill my ears full of surreal orchestral wonders. Moondog is my main starting point for this.

I also add Arthur Russell to the list with a strict focus on his 'First Thought Best Thought' arrangements... and John Zorn with his 'Music for Children' in mind... I love Brian Eno, but focussing on him might send this post too far in the ambient direction.

I realise I could go to Last.fm or similar music communities, but I am looking for that subjective sense one has that links musical styles together, rather than something lodged in rigid genres, structures or histories. I hope these names and works job something in your Meta-minds.

Thanks.

The sun and the clouds are a wavy sea, and Foltin sails on...

GrooveStix — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 12:04:50 -0800

Musicfilter: Help me find similar music to the sounds of this or that album. More heartwrenching info follows... I've been going nuts over these 2 albums so much, so I need every classic/jazz/ethno audiophile to help out me on this. I've been scouring music rooms on IRC, Soulseek chat rooms, music forums, friends and random strangers but I still haven't found anything that sounds similar or as an influence to the sounds of these albums.

Bands that I've discovered while searching which I liked:
Flanger
Marc Ribot & Los Cubanos Postizos
New Klezmer Trio
Jimmy Giuffre
Triosk
Leon Redbone
Glover Gill & Tosca Tango Orchestra
Accordion Tribe
Dancas Ocultas
Sansévérino
Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band

I wanted to ask this question on askMefi for so long, but I always put it off since it seems like I am spamming everyone. I assure you, my Foltin fever is real...

What can you tell me about 'Poe(t)heory'?

0bvious — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:51:54 -0800

What can you tell me about 'Poe(t)heory'? I have found little online regarding Poetheory, but it seems to be interchangable with the title 'Theorypo'. How separate a distinction is it from merely 'postmodern theory and poetry'? What sources of info should I be seeking?

Marjorie Perloff and Peter Jaeger are names that crop up regarding poetheory. Anyone else you know of or any related disciplines/schools/concepts?

Thanks

I want to write for interesting online magazines

0bvious — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 03:16:42 -0800

I am looking for online magazines to submit art/literature/experimental/fun articles to. I think 'The Believer' magazine is a good example of the type I crave. UK based would be best, but not completely necessary. Any ideas?

Meaner Little Pix

sushiwiththejury — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 04:56:01 -0800

Experimental lit recommendations please.
Also: Do you know of any female fiction experimentalists? I like: Calvino Elizondo Vargas Llosa Cortazar a little Borges

This list and the Literature-Map are good starting points.

Any more?

The camera spins all over everywhere?

nobody — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 07:54:31 -0800

I'm trying to remember information about an experimental film, possibly Russian, most likely from the first half of the 20th century, and neither google nor my memory are offering much help. The key element is that the artist built something like a tripod, but with the capability of full, spherical rotation of the camera, 360 degrees around all possible axes. I think the complex movement of the camera was controlled by motors, but it could have been by hand. I might be misremembering, but I think the film made using this device involved setting up the contraption on top of a grassy hill and letting it run for the full duration of a roll or magazine of film. I think at no point do you see a human being or a mechanical device within the frame. Any help?

Hello, hello, hello, hello...

brinkzilla — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 11:26:44 -0800

I'm looking for an interactive experimental website that I came across years ago that allowed you to send sound clips to be played live in a empty water tower. I experimented with this site years ago, maybe 2001? It was really an amazing idea to play sound clips and have them resonate and echo live in some water tower somewhere. You could play other peoples sound clips also. I think it was Canadian, or French, I can't remember much more than that.

I'm not sure if this is even aound anymore, but I would think that if anyone would know about this site it would be all of you, or that you could point me towards something equally as interesting.

What artists are in the same vein as the Dismemberment Plan?

Mali — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 15:50:29 -0800

Recommend me some good music in the vein of The Dismemberment Plan. So as of lately I've been getting really into the Dismemberment Plan and Travis Morrison, but I've worn through Change, Emergency and I, and The Dismemberment Plan is Terrified pretty heavily in the past few months. Are there any other artists out there in this vein (the spoken vocals, almost schizophenic musical feel, not necessarily experimental but with that frantic energy that's there in songs like Dismemberment Plan Gets Rich and Girl 'O Clock) that I should look into? I've heard a little bit of So Many Dynamos and they've sort of got a similar sound, but I'm looking for even more.

riverrun

dead_ — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 08:39:01 -0800

Has Finnegans Wake ever been translated? How?

Norman McLaren Music

gordasm — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 21:16:18 -0800

Does anyone know anything about the electronic music/soundtracks that Norman McLaren composed for his own NFB short films (availability, gear, recording techniques, etc.)?

Name that open source band.

botono9 — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 08:40:08 -0800

A while back I stumbled across an "open source" band, an umbrella name that allowed anyone to perform as that band, but I cannot for the life of me remember it. I think it was primarily an experimental noise act, but at this point I can't be sure. Please, Metafilter, help me find it!

I love horrible music! Help!

Monstrous Moonshine — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 08:51:17 -0800

Experimental music venues in Edinburgh? I'm in town from L.A. visiting family. The tourist attractions are keeping the folks busy, and I'm looking forward to a few jazz shows. Mostly, though, I'm curious as to whether there are any small experimental music venues in town, preferrably with a word-of-mouth following.

Hooligan free, plz.

1st person Persective Film

Dag Maggot — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 20:00:41 -0800

Remember that MASH episode that was entirely filmed from the perspective of the wounded soldier? He couldn't talk, but he could nod, and when he nodded the camera would nod, like you were looking out his eyes. I'm wondering if there have been any films created from a 1st person perspective. As a bonus question, how hard would it be to create this effect? I can see the tip of my nose, blurily - would one put that in digitally? how about perepheral vision?

Natural phenomena streaming live to the web?

Jimbob — Fri, 02 Jun 2006 05:16:18 -0800

Easily scrape-able sources of varying data on the web, ideally reflecting natural phenomena? I need some help finding sources. I've just developed (With the help of NetMidi, Audiomulch, Python and MidiYoke) a system whereby a Python script takes constantly changing inputs from the internet, and manipulates ambient soundscapes accordingly. For instance, at the moment I have the system hooked up to METAR weather data, and increasing temperature increases the frequency of a flanger effect on a rhythm track. Inputs are also taken for air pressure, wind speed etc.

My problem is that this data isn't very interesting on a short time scale. I can sit here for three hours, watch the temperature drop 5 degrees, and this is manifest as only a very minimal change in the soundscape. In particular, METAR data is only updated every 15 minutes or so - if I was able to track individual gusts of wind it would be great, but I don't know where this sort of data may be available.

Does anyone have any ideas, with associated source URLs, of other data I could use as input? I need something that varies on the timescale of minutes, rather than hours, and which changes chaotically but not completely randomly, but I'm having trouble thinking what phenomena might be interesting to track, that fits these criteria. I'd prefer natural phenomena to something like the stockmarket. The data can be binary or categorical as well as continuous.

After 120 Minutes

filchyboy — Sat, 01 Apr 2006 11:51:32 -0800

During the first few years of MTV's late Sunday night show '120 minutes' (1986-2003) it was followed by a show of experimental videos. Usually these would be devoted to some theme. The show lasted about a half an hour in length and was, I believe, an English product. Does anyone know what this show was called and anything about its history, current availability, and or producers?

Computer music with graphical inputs

mai — Wed, 16 Feb 2005 21:22:43 -0800

Computer music with graphical inputs:
My roommate is doing a research project on experimental/computer music where the input is some sort of visual or graphical something and the output is sound. Help him out by sharing your best links. [+]